Tokugawa Ieyasu Accomplishments

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and the first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, and has been one of the most significant figures in Japanese history. Besides being such a successful and powerful ruler, Ieyasu had immensely changed the way Japanese society was structured and organised. From 1603-1608, Tokugawa began the modernisation of Japan. He became the first shogun who had more power over the emperor, and started changing the ways of Japan’s trade, economy, agriculture and social hierarchy. Ieyasu’s ‘main political goal was to cut off the roots of potential dissent and rebellion’ (University of Colorado, 2015); he did so when his army was victorious at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. After this came 250 years of stability and

This began the expansion of towns and businesses alongside roads. International trade had also become very common, as Ieyasu had issued ‘350 red-sealed permits for armed merchant ships destined for South-East Asian ports’ (Saldais M, Smith R, Taylor T, Young C, 2012). Ieyasu was also a strong believer in having a stronger emphasis on education. He had organised several free of cost Buddhist schools throughout Edo, teaching the faith that he very strongly believed in. Tokugawa believed in the Buddhist religion to the extent, that him and his army began killing Christians on the coast of Japan, if they were ever found. Tokugawa Ieyasu was also the first person in Japanese history, to properly create an appropriate feudal system. He organised it in a way where he had the most political power, and where the entire population was in their own faction, and almost contributed to society equally. Overall, Tokugawa Ieyasu was a very important figure in Japanese history, that contributed highly to the environmental, social and political aspects of Japan. The work he did in the Edo period, still significantly affects modern